The Dickinsons

Oh Baby!

2012-02-03T07:17:00.000-08:00

On December 1, 2011 we were blessed with our second little boy, Samuel Key Dickinson. He was 6lbs 5ozs and 19.5 inches long. It was very different going to the hospital knowing that I was going to have a c-section rather than the emergency c-section that I had last time. This time I got to be awake during the surgery to hear him cry when he first came out. It was such an amazing moment. I was so happy that Jay was able to be in the room with me. He had to leave the room when we had Mac when they realized that my spinal was not working and decided to use general anesthesia. Having Sam was the perfect end to what has been a very eventful year.

What a Difference a Year Can Make...

2012-01-29T12:38:00.000-08:00

My poor neglected blog is behind on what has happened in our lives this past year. Once you get out of the habit of blogging it gets harder and harder to get back into it. This year has been a big one. I found a Crohn's treatment that works, Mac got tubes again, I had another surgery, we found out that we were expecting our second little boy, we decided to add onto our house to make room for our growing family, we sold our lake house in Clemson, Samuel Key Dickinson was born, and I took another job. Whew. So once you miss blogging about one it just got harder to catch up. So we will just hit the highlights...baby and house. House in this post and baby in a later post.

Our house was built in 1940 and we have loved it from the day we moved in. It has lots of charm, which for years made up for the lack of closets and tiny bathrooms. Until we found out about baby two and realized we were about to explode out of our home. Not to mention it was getting old sharing a bathroom with a potty training three year old (who is now a big potty trained four year old). After looking at 5,000 houses within one square mile of our house, we finally decided to add on to what we already had. This also involved Jay driving me insane with spread sheets and over analysis of the square root of nothing. Finally I told Jay that moving during pregnancy or with a newborn causes postpartum depression, and he realized that adding on was the best of our bad decisions. The best decision was to do nothing, but I was going go crazy or donate all of our belonging if that happened. I was starting to feel like a hoarder in our own home. We ended making our bedroom bigger by ripping out two small closets and moving a door way. This made our bedroom four feet longer. It feels so much bigger. We then went out the side wall and added 270 square feet of closets and the master bath that we did not have before. This allowed us to free up two other closets in our house in other bedrooms. We are so happy with our decision. We actually might have made a different decision had we had any idea that we would end up selling the lake house that had been on the market for two years in the final hours of our renovation. I think that it worked out for the best though. It was the cheapest decision that we could have made. On to the pictures.

Before:

This was our small cramped room. The only thing that you cannot see is our window on the left. There was no master bath. Just a bath right outside in the hallway. We left that alone so that it would be available for guests.

After:

This is looking in from the same door only now the room is four feet wider. Huge difference in space. We were finally able to take our bed off of the window wall. The TV is where the other window used to be.

Looking into the hallway where there are closets on either side. Huge closets. I love it. There is another dresser on the wall to left that you cannot see.

I ended up changing the bedding. The old bedding is now in the suite that we stay in my Mom's house. It was in such good shape. I am glad that it found a new home.

And here is the bathroom that I have wanted since we moved in here.

And the shower that I no longer share with a preschooler. It was so worth the wait.

Did I mention that I was pregnant during this? Here I am 33 weeks pregnant at the end of the construction. I must be crazy. We gutted and renovated the hallway bath during my first pregnancy. CRAZY I tell you.

Mac's New Big Boy Room:

Everyone needs a pirate tent in their room. Can I just tell you that pirates and dinosaurs are huge right now with our little guy? If he could turn into Dino Dan or run away on a pirate ship, he would.

The Nursery with a few Updates:

We had all of the furniture when this was Mac's room. The giraffe was made by friend at work. She made it out of household products and paper mache. It is very green, which is pretty neat. We added drapes and few extra wall hangings. My Mom rearranged the furniture into the new configuration, which I like so much better than the old way. She moved all of the furniture by her self since she is Superwoman.

Check back soon for a baby post!

Oh Napa

2011-01-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

When can I go back? Last year Jay I decided to start a tradition of going on trip in January for my birthday rather than do a lot of gift for Christmas and birthday. I know you might be feeling sorry for me. Thinking "Oh that poor January birthday girl got a combined Christmas birthday gift." Well don't feel sorry for me--I went to Napa. And of course we loved it! Three weeks of rainy and cold Napa winter weather ended the week we were there. We had sunny skies and temperatures all the way into the lower seventies. It was amazing. My friend Colleen and her friend Kate had many helpful tips, which I heavily relied. Thank goodness, because everything was perfect!

So we flew in through San Francisco and then rented a car at the airport. They gave a free upgrade to a premium car--score! Jay had one client meeting before our trip really started, so we drove to the client's house in Berkley. I then proceeded to drive down hills that scared me to try to find coffee while Jay did his finance genius stuff. And I found Philz Coffee where they laughed when I asked for a latte. Apparently this was a place where they brewed each cup when ordered. The barista fixed me up with some ambrosia coffee that was delightful.

Once Jay was done with his meeting we headed off to Napa with our trusty GPS that for once did not let us down. Thank goodness I finally updated the maps. We arrived at the Cottages of Napa Valley, which was everything that we hoped that it would be. I love the heated tile floors in the bathroom and the fireplace operated by thermostat. It was so cozy and perfect. My favorite perk was the breakfast from Buchon Bakery delivered to our door each day...delicious.

While we were there we ate at three restaurants for dinner. We picked all of these based off of recommendations from friends and the wine client that we visited. We went to Mustards Grill, Celadon, and Tra Vigne. All three were amazing. I really could not pick a favorite. Each had wonderful food, ambiance, service, and wine list. You really could not ask for anything more.

Our first full day in Napa we started with a tour of Buehler Vineyards, which is a smaller winery in the hills of St. Helena. John Buehler and his dogs toured us around the vineyard. This was a such a great way to start the trip. We were the only one there and really got to see how a small winery worked. I loved the Estate Chardonnay here and was amazed by what a good value it was.

In front of the gate to Buehler

View from the hill at the highest point of Buehler

In front of Cabernet vines

At the recommendation of John Buehler, we headed of to the parking lot of Flora Springs Winery to dine at Mark's the Spot Truck. We dined on sliders in the beautiful outdoor courtyard at Flora Springs Winery, which we then of course followed up with a tasting. We actually had the Flora Springs Chardonnay at dinner the night before and loved it. They also has a wine called Trilogy that I will be serving with a beef tenderloin sometime in the near future. Flora Springs is a wonderful place to stop for lunch even if it is not on Friday when Mark's truck is there. They have a lovely courtyard picnic area that you can use for lunch as long as you purchase one tasting.

Courtyard at Flora Spings

We finished off the afternoon with tastings at Cakebread, Turnbull, and Beau Vigne that day. Going during the off season had a lot benefits. We were had wonderful service at each winery that we went to and the servers had plenty of time to spend with us. The disadvantage was not being there during the growing season, but the scenery was still beautiful. Every wine that we had wonderful.

The following day we started off at Duckhorn Winery. This was a beautiful way to start off the day. We shared a tasting on the porch over looking the winery. They had some wonderful merlots and cabernets. Our server looked like Justin Bieber so that was kind of fun. Of course Jay had no idea who Justin Bieber and just kept asking me why our server had such long bangs.

The porch at Duckhorn

After lunch at Rutherford Grill, we went to ZD Winery. This was another tour that had been set up for us. Emily from ZD guided us through their wine library, bottling room and through the barrel room. We were lucky enough to do some barrel tasting of the estate pinot noir that will be released this Spring...loved it. Here we are in the barrel room.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-19T06:12:00.000-08:00

Another year

2011-01-17T18:01:00.001-08:00

Well its a new year and hopefully a great one. This weekend I am going to be another year older. Jay and I are going to do something special to celebrate this weekend and then I will celebrate with friends next weekend. Last year I was really sick on my birthday. I actually had my blood transfusion one week after my birthday dinner with my girlfriends. This year has started off so much better. My scan results came back clean with no signs of active disease. That means my medicine is working! Here is to another year and being 33...gasp.

Begin the Begin

2010-12-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

And this year should be another chance to begin. It has been a long year. A year that a times has felt like an up hill battle. As I sat in my 20th doctor visit of the year, and my 10th visit to St. Francis hospital today, I reflected on the fact that I had made it back to the beginning. I felt good today when I woke up. DAMN good! Cinnamon Dolce Latte good! And that has not happened for too long. It has been a year of been too sick, too depressed, and too pissed at life to feel the way I should. But for today I feel like I am back. For the past two months, I have felt like I am back. I have really had to take a step back from my life this year, but in returned I gained a lot. I grew in my faith, I was reminded of how amazing my husband is, and my relationship with Mac has blossomed. There are a lot of things that people did not see when I was sick, because they did not live with me. Mac and Jay saw them though. Jay saw me not being able to get out of bed at least once a week, because I was in too much pain (usually a Saturday because I would literally drag myself to work). Mac would see me not able to do simple things like taking him to the park. People did not see that I only ate rice for every meal and had to grill waiters on every aspect of how something was prepared. I would go to lunch meetings and pretend to eat. I love to eat and I had to basically stop eating. Today the doctor feels like I am in remission. I go for a CT scan next week to confirm this. I stopped my chemotherapy drug (Imurran) four weeks ago. Remicade is working and I will be going to treatment every eight weeks. That treatment day is like a little vacation. I go in, I lay back in my hospital recliner with my blanket from the heated drawer, and I sleep thanks to the benadryl pre-drugs. It is so nice being off the chemotherapy medicine. My hair has stopped falling out and I am back to remembering what my friends ate or wore ten years ago on a Friday. So here is to feeling good and cross our fingers for it to keep on keeping on.

Deck the Halls

2010-12-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

So during the process of decorating the tree, with a three year old, I found out that we had more breakable ornaments than I realized. I had envisioned two, but it was closer to 20. I decided that Mac needed to make his own ornaments that I would of course treasure for ever...or at least until he goes to college. I made my parents ornaments that they keep trying to re-gift to me. Hello...a priceless ornament is a gift forever. Anyway...I took Mac to make the first of many priceless ornaments.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

2010-12-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures of the fetching of the tree. And yes it was very cold that day

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-24T06:43:00.000-08:00

Mac and Mommy's Big Adventure

2010-11-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Charleston was an amazing place to grow up. I really wish that I got back there more often to visit. I made my third trip of the year to Charleston just last week. I wanted Mac to see his Nana. I also wanted to see Mom and Charlie's new house. I found out that I love Daniel Island just as much as I though I would. Jay was not able to come, so Mac and I began our journey on Veteran's Day.

I woke up to Mac giggling his room and when I opened the door this is what I found.

Mac been lining up all of his trains our his train track. Do you like the new configuration? I made that up myself.

So I loaded up the car. Suitcases. Check. Stroller. Check. DVD Player. Check. Toys. Check. Ridiculous amount of snacks. Check. Tricycle. Check. Seriously that tricycle goes everywhere.

And off we went. After an hour in the car we stopped for lunch. I know we should able to make it farther, but you have to stop at Lane Peach Packing Plant. It has the best soup bar and peach ice cream. So Mac posed with peach...

And he rode the horsey...

And back in the car we went. We stopped one more time before we reached Charleston. Not too bad if you ask me.

Here is the beautiful lake across the street from my parent's house.

We spent our days playing on playgrounds, taking walks along the marsh, and riding the trike around the lake. Oh and I snuck away to go shopping.

Mac loved exploring the neighborhood. Reason # 598 that our neighborhood needs sidewalks. I would never let Mac do this on our street at home. Not without sidewalks.

This is before Mac exhausted himself by riding all the way around a lake that for him is really looooong way. He is stubborn. And he made it. After I ran backwards encouraging him for half the way.

We also got to meet this sweet chocolate lab puppy. Mac really enjoyed getting to chase Banks around. I think we tired him out.

I was able to finish up the weekend spending time with, Eliza, my college roommate and one of my favorite people from Clemson. We went to Wild Wings...yum.

I am looking forward for another Charleston trip for Christmas!!!

Just a few of my favorite things...

2010-11-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few of my favorite things right now...some of them probably need to go on my Christmas list...

Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Yum, yum.

This Gap t-shirt rocks. I recommend you buy one in every color.

I love Tory Burch. Enough said.

This is what is getting me through the holidays. :)

Cupcakes are always my favorite.

The Story of our Fall

2010-11-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Just to catch everyone up, here is what has been happening in our corner of Georgia. Here is our late Summer and Fall so far.

First we finally got away from temperatures like this...

I mean are you kidding me. Was it really necessary for us to have 100+ temperatures on multiple days. Mother Nature and I are no longer on speaking terms. This warm Fall is annoying me too.

Since it was so stinking hot we played inside. Sometimes we had to get creative and make tents out of the crib tent that we no longer use. That's right we moved up to a toddler bed! This little guy is growing up. Also I would like to point out that I did not pick out this unmatching pajama outfit. That would be Mac Daddy and his fine matching skills.

Mac got to meet this Tiger this year! Mac gave the Tiger a big high five and a hug. Luckily this little guy is not afraid of sweaty college boys dressed up in animal costumes.

And Grandpa Big Mac taught us how to throw rocks in the lake. Mac would do this for hours if I would let him.

We went on the longest, hottest walk through Clemson. This little guy was determined to keep going. I bribed him with some ice cream from the Clemson Ag Center just to go home.

We celebrated six years of marriage in September. I am not sure if you can tell in this picture, but I am having an allergic reaction to my shirt. Beauty is pain.

This little guy turned three in October! You can tell how excited he was about his fire truck party at Monkey Joes. 16 of Mac's friends came to jump and play. Monkey Joe also made an appearance. Again Mac showed us that he likes sweaty people in furry costumes. Half of the kids were terrified though.

Here is photographic proof that Mac does look like me and that he wore this birthday hat for a millisecond.

This October I was able to make it over to Tiger Town Tavern in Clemson. I also got to hang out with, Sally, my oldest friend. We have known each other since we were babies. Her mother taught my mother how to smock. We lived together our Freshman year at Clemson. Oh and I introduced her to her husband. So yeah--were good buds.

Jay and I proved our status as true Clemson fans and went to more games than I care to admit. Go Tigers! I am looking forward to the basketball season at this point.

We drove to Cordele, GA to take Mac to see Thomas the Train. Thomas was pretty awesome, but Cordele is not a place that I will be returning in the future...unless I feel that need to be eaten by a swarm of gnats.

This Halloween Mac was a fireman and...

...a cowboy. We also felt the need to go to two Fall Festivals.

Here we are at the St. Luke Fall Festival. This is about as good as our family pictures get without a professional involved.

Here I am with, Eliza, my college roomie. I went down to Charleston last week to see my Mom and her new house. That adventure will hopefully be my next post. Until next time....Happy Fall!

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

2010-11-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like that silly blue fish, Dora, from Nemo. I always telling myself to just keep swimming. It seems like in life every step that you take forward is followed by a step back. Sometimes you reach that point where everyday life becomes a chore. I have had darker moments lately than I have ever had. It is so frustrating to be sick with something that you have little control over. I have found out after trying many different medicines that doctors are not in control either. I have always know that God is in control and can feel all of the prayers that people have lifted up for me. I have not wanted this blog to turn into a blog solely about my illness. I have not had much else to post about, so I have just avoided it. I have decided to just post about my struggle when I feel up to it. It really is a struggle. One that a lot of people do not see when I am slapping a smile on my face all of the time.

In September I started Remicade, two days after our 6th wedding anniversary. In October I had surgery...the day before Mac's 3rd birthday party. Last year Jay had surgery the same day. Apparently we think that it is fun to be on pain medicine for Mac's birthday parties. Ha!

I will probably have to repeat my surgery again. Hopefully I be able to avoid the bigger bowel resection surgery that has been discussed. I just love it when my GI tells my that I do not have a "garden variety case of Chrohn's" and to make sure that his office staff always sends my calls right back to him. The long and the short of it is for now I feel good. And for now I am in a good place looking forward to the holidays and time spent with family. I have truly been blessed with wonderful family and friends. And for that I am thankful.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

Happy 6th Anniversary!

2010-09-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that is has been six years since Jay and I got married. Since then we have bought a really old house, renovated an old house, adopted a yellow lab who loves eating socks, attended many Clemson football games, and had an amazing little boy. I never would have thought when we got married that we could be so much more in love now than we were that day. We have really learned to lean on each other over the past few years. Today we are spending the day at Auburn watching our Clemson Tigers play, which for us is the perfect way to spend the day. We met at Clemson and both love watching our team play.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend we got married:

Looking back...

2010-09-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Our anniversary is this weekend, which has made me look back at some pictures from last few years. I hope you enjoy them...

Jay and I at our rehearsal dinner. Jay was laughing at the photographer...who happened to be drunk. Oops.

Our first baby, Riley.

Proof that Riley loves Jay more than me. This is what happens when Jay takes a nap.

Our last Christmas card picture before we had Mac.

In South Africa with a baby elephant.

8 months pregnant before a Clemson game

James McRae Dickinson, 10.15.2007, 6lbs 8oz 18.5in

Mac's Christening

Family picture, October 2008

Mac turns two

Easter 2010

Is that funny?

2010-09-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

Mac is always saying funny things. Funny to us anyway. Then he always follows it up with "Is that funny?"

Here is just a sampling of some the gems that Mac has said:

I know everything about everything. (Well of course you do...you are two)
I need a tail like Riley. (don't we all)
Chick flick (when referring to Chick-fi-la)
My mommy I NEED lollipops (he call me "my mommy" instead of just mommy and everything is always a need)
My mommy I need my booty sleep, please leave.
My mommy I love fire trucks more than school.
Mommy stop singing--you can't sing. (gee thanks)

Mac is such a silly, sweet boy, but I tell you what...the trantrums have started. I feel like I spend most of morning in toddler negotiations. He is going to make a great lawyer. Getting Mac in the car for school is quite the task. Having a child is the hardest job of all, but it is so worth it in every way. And we laugh a lot along the way.

I will never forget...

2010-09-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Many of us remember what we were doing the moment that we heard about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. Many of us will never forget that moment. I had just started a new job and was at my new desk starting my day when one of my friends ran to my desk to tell me that the first plane had crashed. That day unwound in slow motion for me. Watching the news coverage in a conference room with my new team members because the internet had basically crashed from volume until all of the news sites took off all pictures to get them up again. I remember listening in disbelief as the towers came down. There are images that we will never be able to unsee from that day. The most poignant for me is watching a couple hold hands as they jumped from the buildings that they could find no other escape from.

We spent the day making sure that family members and friends were okay. That afternoon I drove home on my normal one hour route through Atlanta traffic except it wasn't the same. There was no one on the road, no traffic--I was home in 20 minutes. It was surreal. The only other time that those roads were empty on that route was the morning after a snow storm. That Sunday I went to church and we sang America, the Beautiful instead of our first hymn and I finally cried. To this day I cannot sing that song without having tears come to my eyes.

The following weekend we went to a Clemson football game. All games had been canceled the weekend prior. We were all worried about large gatherings of people coming under attack. One of my friends brought her two month old to the game. She looked at me and said, "the first thing I thought of was my son and how his world had changed without him even knowing it." That still goes through my mind as I watch my own son grow.

The following weeks I watched people regain their strength. I watched people regain their patriotism. I watched people remember.

I still tense when I hear helicopters flying near my office building.

I will never forget...

Some days...

2010-09-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had those days where you feel like you are dragging yourself through the day from one fake "I am just great" smile to the next? I just try to put on a happy face most days. Its makes me feel better too. Some days when I wake up I feel like I am literally crawling my way out of a bog. I feel like my life is set to a really bad Sarah McLaughlim song. I get eight hours of sleep a night and I still feel like I just never fully wake up. When I first started to feeling this a year ago, I thought well I just need to exercise more. Then I thought, well I just need to eat better. By the time I finally went to the doctor in February, I found out what I really needed was a blood transfusion. I have never been so shocked in my life. Lately I have been feeling that way again. This time I called the doctor first. For the first time since February my hemoglobin has dipped below 10, which explains why I am tired. Luckily it is still out of the danger zone. I am already taking extra iron, so the next step is probably B-12 shots. Hopefully this will help with energy and iron absorption. If I ate more that would probably help, but eating is just difficult at this point. I laugh when people ask me if I want to meet them for lunch.

My biggest issue is that most people just really do not understand how bad I feel. I really do not want to talk about it much. I still make myself go to events and see my friends. If Mac is invited to something, he is not going to miss it because of me. So when I do miss something, people just do not understand that I am not feeling well. And that if I missed something it really was more than feeling well, because I usually I go anyway. Feeling sucky is the normal around here. If od not to something its because I feel really crappy. Someone asked me why I was not at Sunday school class the other day. When I told them that I had been sick, they responded with a look that told me that they did not believe me. I was nice enough not ask her where she had been the four weeks prior. Ha! I am not going to explain myself. I should not have too. Especially when it is not someones business.

I have not updated this blog as much lately, because I hesitate over what I want to put out there. I also just have not been feeling well enough to add another task to my day. I have been focusing on God, my family, my health, and my work...in that order.

Swim Mafia

2010-08-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

Mac took swim lessons this summer. This was a priority for me since we have a boat that we go out on a lot during the summer. For some reason it is ridiculously hard to sign up for swim lessons in our town. The process reminds of the antics that NYC moms go through to get their tots into the right music class. There are several ladies that teach them in our neighborhood using their own pool. Some of these women just throw your child in while you watch and cry. I chose to go with one of the more nuturing women who does not use this technique. I left a message last December on a voicemail to sign up for lessons. I got a call at the beginning of June from a woman who sounded like she was calling me from a cave in Ahganistan to tell me my scheduled time. There was no communication before the June phone call. No confirmation even of the voicemail that I had left. Also there was no question as to whether the time that I had been assigned would work for my schedule. You take what you get or they just move on to the 100 person waiting list. Needless to say I took it. I lucked out that the time happened to be 4:30, so I did not have to leave work too early. Mac loved the swim lessons...after we got past the first two days of screaming "I don't want to go swimming. I want to go on the sliiiiiiiiddddeee." Now everytime we pass the house where he took lessons, Mac says "I love Miss Marty." Oh...and he can swim.

Lazy Summer Days

2010-08-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a wonderful summer. There is no end to the heat in sight. We cannot wait for some cooler Fall temperatures. Here are some highlights from our summer so far. Wish Mac luck tomorrow--he starts in his new class at school. Its going to be another great class!

Lilly's Birthday Party at Monkey Joes

Rosemary Beach

Sprinkler Fun

Fourth of July in Clemson

Swim Lessons

Soooo.........................

2010-08-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

So I guess that person that I hired to write my blog must have quit............

Today I realized that I am completely addicted to caffeine. This morning I had a nagging headache. I could not figure out what it was. Then I realized that I had not had any caffeine yet, so I decided to pick up a latte on the way to work from my bank officer meeting. Guess when my headache went away? One would think it went away when I drank my overpriced latte, but oh no. My headache was gone the moment they handed me my lovely warm coffee drink--before I had even had one sip. Pavlov's dogs salivated when the dinner bell rang and my headache went away when that coffee was in my hand. Its all psychological (so convenient that I am a psych major). Maybe I can counsel myself in my addiction. I wonder if there is a twelve step program to break the cinnamon dolce latte addiction. Or maybe a three step program, because I am too busy for twelve steps.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Carolina on my Mind

2010-06-29T15:09:00.001-07:00

At the end of May we were able to sneak back to Charleston for a few days of fun. Mac enjoyed seeing his Gigi and Nana. Jay got to enjoy his annual guys golf weekend. Our favorite part was getting to play on the beach before the real heat set in.

Breaking Radio Silence

2010-06-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

The Bad

I have written and rewritten this post in my mind a thousand times over the last month. I really would like for this blog to be all positive things. Unfortunately life does not always play out that way. So how are things...not good. I finally weaned myself off of prednisone at the beginning of this month. Unfortunately a week later during our beach vacation I started getting sick again. I have gotten to the point where I am just tired of feeling terrible and I am tired of just waiting for something to work. So I decided that I wanted to finally listen to my doctor and find out more about remicade. Unfortunately my doctor had a stroke.

Lets pause and let that sink in. The one person who truely understood what was going on with the progression of my treatment had a stroke.

Pray for my doctor, because I cannot imagine what he and his family are going through. He fortunately is expected to recover and come back to his practice in several months. I am unfortunately going to have to go to another doctor. I am not at point that I can wait for several months. I am also going to most likely be having surgery at beginning of August.

And my mother had to put her dog and constant shadow to sleep a couple weeks ago. Those who have had dogs know that they are like children. And having to make that decision is one of the hardest even when it is the best thing. I do not know what we would do without Riley. He is the family mediator, stress reliever, comic relief, and constant companion. So that is the bad.

And the Good

Jay continues to be very supportive through this entire ordeal. I do not think I could do it without him. And my friends have been so wonderful during this as well. They are always checking on me and asking to help with Mac.

Mac is growing up so fast. He started swim lessons yesterday. He is not afraid of the water, but he still spent the entire class crying. Why, you ask? Well because he wanted to go on the slide that was on the other side of the yard. I dealt with a solid 30 minutes of Mac crying and saying "Maaaaamaaaaa I waaaannaaaaa gooooo ooooon the sliiiiiiiiide." It was like chinese water torture. I really wanted to laugh hysterically, but I though the other uber mommies would frown at that. So I had to thoughtfully console him for 30 minutes. The only time he stopped crying were the few times that it was his turn in the pool. We go back tonight. I just cannot wait. Luckily I know one of the other moms, so we got to laugh together. Mac is so stubborn. And when I say stubborn, I mean STUBBORN. He is my child without a doubt...pushing that square peg in the round whole. It is so worth it though. I am loving every minute of being his mommy.

Riley continues to entertain us with his constant theft of food. He no longer gets any access to socks, so we have not had any other scary incidents. He also is Mac's best friend. Mac shares all of his food with him. They also love playing in the sprinkler together.

We are going to be going to the lake soon. We are really looking forward to having some family time. Next post will be pictures, so stay posted.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

Health Update

2010-05-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give a health update. I have hesitated to post anything about my health, because the last time I did I jinxed myself. I was feeling better and then took a turn for the worst again. I am finally starting to feel better again, but it has taken three rounds of Prednisone. I am currently tapering off Prednisone for the third time and hoping that the new medicine that I have been taking for the past couple of weeks will kick in. The doctor had to increase my Prednisone dose to 60 mg this time around, which is A LOT. My face looks like a pumpkin as a result. It is temporary though. I am tapering off very slowly this time. Prednisone is a miracle drug for Crohn's Disease, because it is very effective and works immediately. It is not a permanent solution though and it comes with a lot of nasty side effects. The good news is my hemoglobin levels have stayed normal, so I have avoided additional blood transfusions. Just pray that my new medicine will start to work. If my medicine does start working I will be doing another round of testing in the Fall to check the stage of my Crohn's Disease. Currently I am at the severe level. I am trying to get into remission. There is not a cure, but in remission you have few symptoms and continue with your medicine. I have finally felt well enough to travel, so Jay has started planning lots of little trips for us. We are looking forward to a great Summer.

Wordless Wednesday (after free chocolate ice cream)

2010-05-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Off to the Zoo

2010-05-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

We decided to head to the Montgomery Zoo this past weekend. The zoo was wonderful. We had been to the Atlanta Zoo last year, so we wanted to check out the Montgomery Zoo this time. It was much cheaper and the animal exhibits were excellent. The first thing that Mac found was the playground, so he played there for a while before we went to see all of the animals. Mac's favorites were the jaguar, giraffes, and chimpanzees. We ate lunch overlooking the giraffe habitat, which was beautiful.

Sliding down the slide at the zoo playground

Mac pointing out the sleepy Rhino

Lunch with the giraffes

Baby Jaguar riding shotgun on the drive home

Sad Corner

2010-05-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I went in the living room and found this:

What is it you ask? That would be milk sitting in "sad corner." Mac has identified a corner in our house as "sad corner." He puts himself in it more than we do. We hardly ever tell him to sit in "sad corner." This is something that they do at school. Apparently milk was bad though, because there sits milk in "sad corner. " I decided to ask Mac what happened.

I asked what milk did, when Mac came to get milk out of "sad corner." Mac told me that milk had bit his finger. Apparently Mac dropped his cup on his finger, so that was milk's fault.

Muffins with Mom

2010-05-16T16:57:00.001-07:00

At Mac's school they celebrate Mother's Day by inviting us to breakfast in their classroom--"Muffins with Mom." I think that its a nice idea, but I would rather get an invite to next month's "Donuts with Dad." Donuts are so much better! Or what about "Cupcakes with Mom." The title is lacking the snazzy repeating "m"s, but cupcake are a form of muffin...with frosting. Well anyway I enjoyed going to "Muffins with Mom." I am Mac's favorite person right now (he goes back and forth between Jay and I), so he was pretty excited to have me stay and eat with him. Mac was so excited that he stuffed his entire muffin in his mouth. Luckily it was a small muffin.

Mac and Laney

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T17:07:00.001-07:00

Well we all had a wonderful Mother's Day here in Georgia. Mac kept saying "happy mudder's day" all day. Jay and Mac took me a Japanese steakhouse, because that is one of my favorite places to eat. We do not usually go, since Jay does not enjoy sitting with strangers. We got lucky this time and sat with another very nice family. Mac was a little scared of the flame, but he got over it pretty quickly. We have all been enjoying beautiful weather and trying to stay outside as much as possible. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

What Should I Wear?

2010-05-05T21:06:00.001-07:00

Okay, pop quiz. What should I wear to a wedding that we are going to this weekend? It is at 6 pm on Saturday. So dressy but not formal. Most of my clothes are starting to me to be to small on me right now due to all of the prednisone that I have been taking. All of of these options have expandable backs to accommodate my changing weight. Ha! Seriously though, I really have needed to gain some weight...its just frustrating to have stuff literally fit one day and be too tight the next. Its really my fault though. I had a lot of stuff taken in over the past couple years when I was smaller. Now my clothes that would fit me now have all been made smaller. Its really kind of funny when you think about it. I really don't mind being the size I am. I just don't feel like buying a bunch of clothes. Would someone like to chip in? Okay on to our choices:

1. This one is long and I have strappy gold sandals that I wear with it.

2. This one may be a little to formal. It is cocktail length, but the gold makes it dressier than the first. I wear this one with black peep toe shoes.

3. This one is probably a little hard to see. It is tea length--just below my knee. It is one of the Jcrew chiffon dresses. I usually wear strappy black sandals with this one.

So what do you think?

We Are Not Morning People

2010-05-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the proof:

Clemson...It has been too long

2010-04-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well we woke up one day and realized that we had not been to Clemson since November. Which is a shocker. We are usually there once a month even when it is not football season. Not only that--we had barely been out town since then. I have been so sick since November that we have barely traveled. I am not 100% yet, but we are getting there. One thing is for sure...I am ready to take a couple of trips. We have a family lake house in Clemson so we headed over there for some baseballs games. Jay and I both went to Clemson, so we are pretty attached to the place. Hopefully our next trip will have better weather so we can get the boat. Riley was very unhappy about his lack of water time. He still managed to sneak in the lake and get muddy withing 20 minutes of us arriving there.

Such a happy guy!

Mac posing in Tiger Town with his snack cup (such a bar appropriate item)

Mac and Grandpa Jim before the game

Mac loves purple lollipops

They were giving this away during the game--thank goodness we did not win it. Mac thinks that you are supposed to stand on the seat an jump to the ground.

Wordless Wednesday - Riley Misses his Playmate

2010-04-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Ready for the Masters

2010-04-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Jay got to go to a practice round of the Master this week...lucky duck. Being in Georgia has its benefits, we have been able to go several times in the past years. Jay went with a friend this year. We thought Mac was a little young (or LOUD) to take in. :) We have been practicing our golf game in the backyard. I am not biased at all (mothers never are) but...I think that we have a future Clemson golf team member. Maybe Mac can follow in Lucas Glover's footsteps one day. Or better yet...play a game with his Dad and his Grandpa Mac or all of his fun uncles.

A tough shot from the cart path...

Here is the first year that Jay and his father Jim went:

I wish our azaleas looked like that.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T16:46:00.001-07:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter! Here are some pictures from our Easter.

Hippity Hoppity

2010-04-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

We are ready for Easter. We have our cute outfits ready, Mac has a new haircut, and we have two more Easter egg hunts coming up! Today Mac had an Easter party and egg hunt at school. It was so much fun. I especially like how they "hid" the eggs (in plain sight) by basically just throwing them all over the playground. The teacher made a bunny cake that was just like the one my mom used to make when I was little. It brought wonderful memories of dying Easter eggs in our avocado green kitchen and helping Mom decorate our bunny cake.

Not Me Monday

2010-03-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

I love "not me" Monday its better than playing "I never" in college.

I most certainly "did not" back into the shed when leaving for work last week. I definitely "did not" start laughing when Mac yelled "uh oh Momma." And I would "never" debate whether to tell Jay about my mishap, because someone had already run into that shed and you really could not tell. When Jay discovered that the shed doors now do not open, I most certainly "did not" suggest that we just sell all of the stuff in there--we don't have time for yard work anyway.

I "would never" eat half Mac's Easter candy before I even had the chance to put it the basket for next week. Now does he really need all of the candy?

I "did not" give two people the same birthday card last week, because I was lazy to go somewhere other than the corporate gift shop by my office.

I am Feeling Better!

2010-03-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. I am feeling better. I have kept it quiet this week, because last weekend was so awful. I though it might be a fluke. Jay is always asks how I am doing. Our joke is "just tell me when you are feeling good," which unfortunately was not very often over the past few months. I just thought that after that there was no way that my medicine would ever kick in, but it seems to have started to work. I am glad too, because the doctor was getting ready to put back on Prednisone and start on a lot stronger drug. The strange thing is that I started feeling better all of a sudden and not gradually. Lialda takes a month or two to kick in--I just thought it would help a little until it started really working. Well apparently it did not help it all until it was fully effective. We double my dose a week ago, so that probably is main reason that it finally started working. Oh and I have gained weight. My friend Aimee told me that I no longer can eat like a garbage disposal. Its back to gym for me. I just glad that I finally have the energy! Good thing too. Easter is coming up followed by a round of Columbus visitors coming to see Mac.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Quick Update

2010-03-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update of what is going on in our household. Mac had Grandparent's Day at school. Unfortunately his school likes to do Grandparent's Day on a Wednesday, which is not convenient for Grandparents who live six hours away. So I got be the grandparent stand in. We had a great time hanging out with the other grandparents. Everyone was dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day. Mac was wonderfully behaved, while other kids cried and stole donut holes from unsuspecting grandparent's plates. Mac sat politely in his chair and grinned sweetly at the kind grandmother beside him until she gave him a donut. What a sucker she was. Ha!

This weekend we went to Atlanta, so I could attend conference for Crohn's patients. Mac got to play with his new buddy Hill while I was in the conference all day. Jay and I had such a good time catching up with our friends. Mac and Hill played so hard that they collapsed into bed both nights. This was also the first test drive of a trip without the pack n' play. Mac had been sleeping in it diagonally, because he has gotten so long. We traded in the pack in play for a toddler air mattress. Its basically an overpriced pool draft. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Studies have shown that sticking out your tongue improves concentration. In the next two pictures, Mac is trying to prove that theory. At least I think that might be what is happening. He won't tell me, since he's two.

Is that Funny?

2010-03-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

All day long Mac asks me "Is that funny mamma?" about something he just did or said. A lot of things he does really are funny. He loves it when you tell him that he is silly. Here are just a few things that he does:

1. I told Mac that my tummy hurt today and he said "I kiss it mamma. I kiss your tummy. Allllllllllll better." Such a sweet boy. He also try to kiss Riley's boo-boos, which usually ends with Mac getting nailed in the face with a lab tail. Mac doesn't mind though. They are buddies.

2. I catch him jumping in his crib after I have put him to bed. As soon as I open the door he freezes and pretends like he sleeping....sleeping standing up that is. Then I tell him not to jump on the bed and he hits the deck, which is where he dives to his pillow. That bed is probably going to break someday with all of the abuse it gets.

3. When we are playing outside, Mac tells me to "run Mama, run. I catch you." Then I run in super slow motion while Mac giggles up a storm running behind me. Yes, it is hard to run in slow motion, but so worth it when he catches you.

4. When something makes Mac laugh he will start belly laughing with his head thrown back. Nothing is funnier that our little guy when he gets tickled about something.

5. Speaking of tickle. Mac like to tickle inanimate objects. Like a chair. He will go to the chair wiggle his fingers and say "tickle, tickle, tickle."

6. Mac is learning about happy and sad at school. So he will tell me, "Mama I happy" and grin at me with the biggest grin ever. Then five seconds later he will say "Mama I sad" and then proceed to stick his lower lip out. He is two, so those emtions run rampant.

7. When you surprise Mac, he yells "Oh my GOSH!" or "Oh my GOODNESS!" He got those gems from me when I tripped walking into daycare one day. Ha! Luckily I was paying attention to what I was saying that day...as I fell down.

Its amazing the things that Mac learns everyday. We finally have hit that terrible two stage where he throws a fit at the drop of a hat and never listens to us. All of the cute little things he does everyday make up it for it though. I just love seeing the world through his eyes with all of his curiosity. Everyday we hear the question "What's that?" a million times. Here is our silly guy:

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-10T18:12:00.000-08:00

Monday is for Random Musings

2010-03-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

1. Thank you to all of the people who have asked how I am doing, sent me e-mails, and included me in their prayers. The good news is I am feeling a lot better. The medication that I am taking seems to be working so far. Hopefully that will continue. The true test is when I stop the Prednisone on Wednesday. And I can feel everyone's prayers!

2. Mac counted to five in Spanish last week. He officially knows more Spanish than me now. And I took it for three years. Foreign language is not my thing apparently. I found Finance a lot more exciting.

3. Riley has recovered from his sock disaster. I found him trying to break into Jay's hamper last night. Give it up yellow dog! We may need to enroll him in a program to kick his addictions. (and maybe a cupcake program for me)

4. The weather is finally nice here and the sun has decided to show up after a six month hiatus. We are enjoying lots of outside time. Mac's favorite game is "catch me Mama." When Mac says "run Mama, run Mama," I try not to snort, because he sounds just like Forest Gump's friend Jenny.

5. I went to a Women Leadership Conference last week that was awesome. It made me feel empowered. I got to meet Claire Shipman from ABC news who I love from her Good Morning America days. I went back to work a created a business plan for the rest of year...after all of that I needed a nap.

6. Two more weeks until we go to Atlanta and see friends! Mac is going to get to go to the Aquarium for the second time! I am looking forward to a short trip out of town.

New Wheels

2010-03-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Well I wish this was a post about a new family vehicle for a certain mom, but sigh...its not. Its even better! Mac got a new toddler bike that he can ride until his legs grow into his big boy tricycle. He has been talking about it since we got it at the store the other day. Mac's favorite part is the storage compartment on the back. That's where he store his snacks. Riley keeps trying to break into that compartment. Riley would keep socks in there if it was his bike...socks that he was able to restrain from eating that is.

Mmmm...Those Socks are Tasty...and Expensive

2010-03-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

Let me just preface this story to say that we really are good dog owners. We treat our dog better than most people we know. Riley goes on every trip with us, we plan our vacations so that he can go, he has always been an inside dog, we take him on weekend hikes, and he has multiple dog beds around our house. My parents let him clog their pool filter with his dog hair at least once a year. We got him a dog dock for our boat, so he would be able to get out of the water easier. We spent a lot of time training him to be good around people in every situation (bikes, ladders, strollers, aggressive dogs, kids). I strive to keep all people food away from. Riley is a Lab though and a smart one at that. Labs will eat anything if you let them. He can and will sniff out a sock if it is anywhere in the house that he can get to it. He will not chew on anything else (due to all of the training), but he has a serious weakness of will power when it comes to socks. And lets just face it--dogs do not get the concept of cause and effect. He does not understand that eating a sock will cause him to be sick.

So rewind to last Friday. I come home and feed Riley. He immediately throws up in the one room where we have carpet (our house is 90% hardwoods people). Mac then watches me clean up the mess while repeatedly telling me "mama you clean up Riley mess." Mac is cute but not very helpful in the dog vomit department. Riley did not throw up again so we thought that he was okay. Just so you know dogs throw up randomly sometimes and ours is no different. The next day we fed Riley breakfast and he kept it down or so we thought. Then five hours later he threw up...undigested food. Not good. But then he acted like he was fine, so in our infinite wisdom we fed him again after a couple hours had passed. Five hours after that...he threw up. At this point, I took away all water to rest his stomach and moved his bed into our room for the night. He did not get sick overnight and was back to normal spirits. The next day was Sunday, so I decided to see how Riley did on a bland diet before I took him to the emergency vet. I made him steamed rice and boiled chicken. Riley gobbled it up and kept down. Then we fed him dinner several hours later to the same success. I decided to hold off on the emergency vet visit and just take him to the regular vet Monday.

Well Monday came and off we to the vet we went. Riley greeted the vet staff with his normal gusto for life. They did not think that anything serious could be wrong with him. But then, they found something. Dr. T said "I feel something here in his stomach. I need to get an x-ray." Off to x-ray they went. Our super happy, dopey, tail wagging Lab followed right behind the vet like they were going to play fetch. If there is something wrong with Riley, then he would be a good poker player. While waiting for Dr. T to come back with our first baby, I send my mind racing down the shame spiral. How could I have let Riley get into something that he was not supposed to eat! And how could I have not noticed that he was eating something bad! I was usually so vigilant and an expert at ripping things from his jaws when he did thwart us. I even wrestled a turkey leg out of his jaws three Thanksgivings ago. (Here is a little hunting tip from my Dad. If you blow in a bird dog's ear, he will drop the bird. This also works with a Lab and anything you just don't want him to have. You have to be fast though. You only have a second to grab the item before the dog locks back down on it.)

Dr. T comes back to show me the x-ray films. He points out where the "sock" was stuck in his small intestine. All though it appeared to be moving along some. Riley's tail at this point is beating the wall so hard that sounds like a drum. He was looking at me going thinking "mmmmmmmmmm....socks." Riley does not to understand that the cotton fibers of the sock were preventing kibble from staying in his belly. Because I had switched him to the bland diet, we knew that he was able to keep some food and water in his system. This also kept him from getting dehydrated. So we decided to give him a doggy laxative before trying surgery. We were hoping that would get things moving and avoid putting Yellow Dog under the knife.

Dr. T was worried about whether Riley would eat the medicine though. "Riley not eat something?" I scoffed. At this point Riley nearly knocks me to the ground in his enthusiasm, because his favorite word "eat" had been mentioned. So Dr. T squirted this disgusting medicine on my finger, which Riley promptly inhaled (the medicine that is not the finger--Riley is a gentle beast). Then we were sent home to wait. Jay came home from work to give Riley a marathon walk to see if it produce results. And it did. One Brooks Brothers dress sock was discovered. I was also vindicated in my hunch that Jay had been the one not to keep his hamper closed. I am vigilant in my sock protection efforts...Jay not so much. Now Jay knows the importance of keeping the closet door closed 100% of the time. The next day out came sock number two. Oh boy Riley...apparently two socks are your limit. If I have anything to do with it, you will never be testing that limit again. I suggested to Jay that he just not wear socks--like me. Jay is running out of socks anyway...unless he wants to go retrieve the ones from the yard (which we threw in the trash bin to prevent a second eating).

Here is Riley checking out the biggest rawhide bone ever at friend's house.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T10:57:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

Snagglepus

2010-02-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

This little guy is getting the last of his two year molars.

So these people are not getting much sleep.

Sigh...

Not Me Monday

2010-02-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Its another Monday. Time to tell everyone how perfect I was last week, because I am an angel. I would never do anything wrong.

For instance, I did not eat whip cream directly from the can when I realized that we were out of ice cream last night. Nope not me. I would never to that. It would be uncouth.

When Jay asked me what we were having for dinner Tuesday night, I did not say"your guess is as good as mine." I most certainly did not follow that comment up with an evil dog laugh.

I most certainly did not bribe my child to finally leave Monkey Joes Saturday by offering him a toy matchbox car. And my reason for this had nothing to with the fact that I wanted to eat lunch at Fuddruckers across the parking lot.

Oh and there is no way that I ate fried pickles again twice this week!

Snow Day!

2010-02-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

We recently had a beautiful snow in Columbus. I was sick while this was going on, so it has taken me a while to get the pictures up on the blog. I still had fun playing with the whole family in the snow though. Mac made his first snowman. By noon the next day it was already melting. It was so beautiful while it lasted though!

Mac spots the first snow flakes outside the window.

Mac is bundled up and ready to play in the snow. He is actually wearing two jackets! We did not have a heavy enough one that was water proof, so I had to get a little creative.

Check out all of the snow. We got about four inches of snow. It was breath taking. It was so beautiful. It started to melt pretty quickly by lunch the next day.

Here is our house! The snow was still falling pretty fast at this point.

Riley loved the snow! Here he is trying to eat it. He spent most of his time running in circles in his famous butt tuck position. He only assumes that position when he is in full on menace mode.

Mac and Jay trying to figure out how to make a snowman. Mac was singing "Frosty the Snowman" the whole time! Mac like making snow balls better though. Especially when I threw them at Jay!

Yeah our pathetic snowman attempt is complete. Lets go play now!

This is what a snowman looks like when you are not very good at building them! Apparently our snowman is being robbed in this picture. Looks like someone told him to "stick" them up. Ha! This was before Riley stole one of his arms and ate it.

Looks like our basketball court is closed due to weather. It was reopened by the following evening! Its hard to believe that was just a week ago. Today we have sunny 60 degree weather. That is why we love the South! Beautiful weather!

So what just happened to you...

2010-02-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

That seemed to be the question I have been getting a lot recently. "So what happened to you." I have had a lot of health issues lately. I am blessed to have so many people who care about me and have asked how I am doing. I was not going to post about this on our family blog originally, but now I realize its just an easier way to get the information out to the people who want to know. Then we will get back to our regularly scheduled picture fest of the little guy.

I have always had stomach problems. Two weeks ago my GI doctor finally sent me for colonoscopy. He really wanted me to have it a year ago when I first started going to him, but I had another test that was terrible so I put it off. People do not ever put off tests! Anyway they found scarring and took biopsies to rule out cancer. Luckily I did not find out that cancer was a major concern until it got ruled out. So there is some good news--no cancer! My doctor told me that I need to have a CT scan at the end of the week to look for scarring in the upper part of my digestive system. They took some blood work that day and sent me home. I thought I was done for the week until the CT scan. Then the nurse called me one hour after I got home. They told me to go straight to the hospital to get my blood type tested, because apparently I needed a blood transfusion immediately. They told me that my hemoglobin levels were so low that they were not sure how I was even walking around. Jay drove me to the hospital so that I could get my blood tested and register to be at the hospital for my transfusion the next day. Then Jay took Mac and I to Carrabbas...yum.

The next day I went back to hospital for my blood transfusion. I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. They put me in my own hospital room with a TV. I ended up laying around all day will they pumped me full of fluids and blood. They also fed me three meals and talked to me all day while I dosed off and on between TLC shows. The nurses at this hospital were so awesome. I hope that I do not need to see them anytime soon, but I will be going back to visit Nurse J. I felt pretty hyped after the blood transfusion, so apparently I really needed it.

My next hurdle was drinking all of the junk for the CT scan. Well that really ended up not being that bad. The stuff has a berry flavor that was not too bad. I had to drink an extra cup once I got to the hospital. That one was chocolate flavored. It tasted kind of like those slim fast shakes in the can. Not too bad--just not great. The CT scan was pretty painless as well. I was back home before the snow started that day.

The Monday after all of these tests I went and got my blood work done again to make sure that the transfusion was working. Then Tuesday I went to follow up with my doctor on all of the tests. Basically, I have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I have probably had it since college. The doctor could not believe that I was even able to function day to day. I told him that most days I was fine. Jay of course points out that I have a least one day (if not two) every week where my stomach is bothering me. I guess I just ignore it, because life goes on. They have started me out on a bunch of medicines that are supposed to get it under control. Then I will be taking a maintenance drug that it supposed to help keep it under control. This is something that I will always have, but then again I probably always have had it. I am looking forward to my treatment working and feeling better than I have...well ever.

I am so thankful for all of the people who have been watching over me. Jay has been a rock for me to lean on during all of this. Mac has been incredibly sweet (just like always) during all of my tests. I hate to think what would have happened to me if they had not checked my blood levels that day in hospital. I was to the point of passing out or even having a heart attack. Now my levels are perfect and they are going to be testing me a lot to make sure that they stay there. God was taking care of me that day. He made sure that I got the help that I need. I am so thankful that cancer was ruled out. I have a disease that while not curable, can be lived be with. And I am tough. And I am strong. And my God is in an awesome God and he will carry me through this!

Not Me Monday

2010-02-15T14:57:00.001-08:00

MckMama at one of the blogs I follow does "not me Mondays." Basically you just admit the things that you may or may not have done this week. Imperfections I call them. So here goes...

I did not eat the very candy that I gave Mac for his Valetine's present while he was napping. When he told me that he wanted a heart candy later, I did not distract by giving him a rice crispy treat. No not me, because that would be terrible.

When I was sick last week and Jay was feeling sorry for, I did not make him eat at Carrabbas twice in the span of three days. I also did not convince him that it was his idea.

After church yesterday, I did not sneak into the youth room just so I could eat a donut. I was there to see the kids of course. When I was at Sunday school after that and someone amazingly brought donuts, I did not take the chance to grab second donut.

When I missed lunch Wednesday, I did not drive through Zaxbys and get a side of fried pickles to hold me over until dinner time. Nope not me. I would never do that.

Okay I just realized that all of these are food related. Apparently I eat like a high school boy or maybe a linebacker. He, he.

Love is in the Air

2010-02-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

Remember the days of class parties. Room mothers brought snacks, parents came from work if they were able, and way too much sugar is consumed. Well nothing has changed. On Valentine's Day you still make cards for all of your classmates, because when you are two everyone is your friend. I remember decorating a shoe box in grade school for all of my classmates to drop my Valentines into. Well Mac had a bag with his name on it that matched the bags that his teachers made for each of his classmates.

Each student brought cards or goodies bags for the whole class. I of course was an overachiever. I saw other parents showing up with goodie bags, so after a quick run to Target Mac had goodie bags for his friends too. My friend Sarah calls this "first child syndrome"--the feeling like I have to do everything perfectly for Mac.

Check out the banner that the class made. Mac's teacher asked each student who they loved the most. Mac said "Mommy" which of course made my heart melt. One of his friends named the family dog, which I thought was so cute. Kids always surprise you with their answers. Another girl named herself. They have been working on self confidence at her house. Ha!

One of the room mothers brought in cupcakes with candy cane hearts. They were so cute and the kids loved them! For details on how to make candy cane hearts click here.

After we left school, Mac stopped by his favorite Valentine's house. Anne is pretty sweet on Mac. She really likes him even though she keeps calling him "Matt." Detail, details. Anne is exactly two months younger than Mac. I am good friends with her mom. Mac actually got to meet Anne at the hospital. We always joke that they are betrothed. It would be funny if they actually did end up together. We have a lot of embarrassing photos for the slide show if they do get married. Anne likes to tackle Mac when he won't hug her. We keep telling her to play hard to get. Ha!

The Love of Food and Photography

2010-02-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

We are home for a snow day today. Hopefully snow is going to move into the area in a couple hours. Scratch that. I just looked outside and it is snowing!!! Jay is trying to convince Mac to come inside. Good luck. Mac keeps yelling "snow, snow." He is very excited. Later when we have some accumulation, we hope to get out there and take some pictures. If you are inside trying to stay warm today check out one of my oldest friends' blog. Kristen and her friend Kate started a blog about their love of food and photography. Two of my favorite things! You can find them at http://frombrooklyntobeacon.blogspot.com/.

So What Have We Been Up To?

2010-02-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of happenings in our household to tide ya'll over. Stayed tuned for a fun Valentine's Day Party post. Meanwhile stay warm...brrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I love my birthday--no matter what age. How appropriate that Maggie-gras took place at New Orleans style restaurant this year. It was pretty tame, because lets face it--I am getting pretty old. (just kidding mom)

Mac continues to maintain his status as the cutest toddler I know. I am not biased at all either--not one bit.

We celebrated this gal's birthday. I made her pretend to blow out the candle here, because I missed the actual shot. Ha! Isn't this cake the cutest thing ever! It was so yummy.

At the end of a pretty tough health related week for me, this guy cheered me up with a few Valentines surprises. Hopefully his Dada is working on one of his own. (hint, hint)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

American Express is on Crack

2010-02-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

Last week American Express canceled my credit card and reissued it due to fraud. Super! Way to stay on top of that fraud thing. One problemo...they did not let me the card holder know or actually send me my new card. This made me very disappointed during some birthday purchases that I was making (don't worry I have since fixed that). After three calls to customer service, they figured out what happened and sent me a new card. They will not win any customer service awards from me. Although I will say they very nice every time I talked to them. They even made me laugh when they explained that "we reissued the card but it could not reach you." I asked why it "could not" reach me an they said "we just don't know." Fun times. They were vague but polite. Today I received my new card. Mac promptly took it from and hid it somewhere. He has this new thing where he likes to hide my credit cards and keys. I think Da-da taught him that trick. Sweet.

Jay who also has an Amex received an invitation for one of their black (centurion) cards today.

What is the black card you ask? Well just read here.

American Express must be crazy. Jay has not even used his card in over year. They really think that he actually wants to pay a ridiculous annual fee and then be required to charge more than the both of us even make in year. Ummmm...no thanks, but thanks for the invite.

Hide and Seek

2010-02-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

We have a new game that we love to play with the camera. Mac likes to hide from the camera. I say cheese and he hides! Much giggling ensues as I try to get one picture of our goofy two year old smiling. He giggles about everything and why shouldn't he--the life of a two year old is great!

Oh and pillows muffle giggling, which makes him giggle even harder!

Holey Moley

2010-01-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

So whats up you ask. It has been a little too long since I have posted a real update other than pictures. I want to say sorry to all of the Nanas and Gigis who are out there waiting. Probably refreshing their web browsers hoping for more pictures of Mac--the cutest grandson ever. Well we traveled to Atlanta to have dinner with the Deriso family and have a little get away weekend for my birthday. We decided to make an Atlanta shopping trip an annual birthday trip. Both of us (Jay and I) hate to shop, but apparently we like to shop together. It involved at lot of valet parking, eating, wine drinking and very little shopping. Then I came home and ordered my own birthday cake. Jay forgot, but that does not worry me! This insures that I get the cake that I want. And it was yummy. And I am eating some right now...

Mac really enjoyed meeting his cousin Carly. He also got to see rest of our family. Mac told me that he wanted to "play with Carly." We are going to have a to wait a little bit since she is only a month old. Jay's brother Kemper and his wife had a baby girl 1.1.01. Baby Charlotte Marie "Carly" is the first girl that his born in the family for two generations. All the grandmothers were pretty excited! I am just so excited to have a beautiful healthy niece!

January is the time year when I seem to have all of my doctor appointments for yearly check ups. I ended up having to get the mole that has always been on the top of my nose removed (in between my eyebrows). Everything came normal on the biopsy! It is so weird though. I have had this mole my entire life. Photographers would always air brush it out and I would tell to put it back in. Its part of my face! Anyway, its gone now and I probably look better without it. Its just weird not being there.

With the mole:

And without:

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

My Birthday

2010-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Today I am 32! Woo-hoo. Jay will tell you that I have always loved my birthday. I am never worried about getting older. I just enjoy the chance to celebrate. Today we are escaping for an overnight get away. We are going to do some shopping in Atlanta and then have dinner with some friends. Hopefully I will have a more exciting update when we get back.

And here is the latest greatest picture of Mac!!!!

Wordless Wednesday - First Picture with the New Camera

2010-01-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

Random Musings

2010-01-18T20:21:00.000-08:00

1. Marshmallows are best eaten by the handful. I had crackers for dinner, so that seemed like an appropriate dessert.

2. The sad part is that I actually cooked. The rest of the family had chicken tetrazzini. Yummy. Anything with that much butter in it is delicious. My stomach just couldn't handle it tonight, so I will have it on leftover night.

3. Those wonderful people at Best Buy decided that my act of stupidity (read: dropping digital camera on concrete) was not reparable. Which means I get a brand new, free, comparable camera. Woo-hoo. So I got a Canon Powershot SD 1200 IS Digital Elph. I am pumped!

4. I really wish that Best Buy had called me before we left for Charleston for the weekend though. Hopefully the fam will provide us with plenty of pictures.

5. We met our niece this past weekend. She is an amazing baby just like Mac was. Her parents don't believe it yet, but they are doing a great job.

6. I am excited about my birthday this weekend. We are heading to Atlanta Saturday night to see some friends. Oh and I plan getting myself a cake...mmm frosting...

Wordless Wednesday - Riley the Puppy

2010-01-13T07:48:00.002-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-06T08:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas Joy

2010-01-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

Nothing matches the joy of a two-year old on Christmas Day! It totally made putting this train table together twice in a 24 hour period worth it.

We set up the train table in the playroom Christmas Eve night to surprise Mac on Christmas morning. Then we moved it to his room Christmas Day after the big reveal.

Random Musings and Happy 2010

2010-01-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

1. I cannot believe that it is 2010 already. It is already much less stressful than the start of my 2009. The stock market ruined the first six months of last year. That's what happens when you work in finance.

2. My niece, Charlotte Marie Dickinson, was born 1.1.01. We are looking forward to meeting her in two weeks.

3. Memo to Mother Nature: I live in the South. Temperatures in the teens are not allowed. If I wanted to be cold, I would move to Fargo. Please cease and desist with this Arctic air front.

4. My camera broke. It had nothing to with the fact that I dropped it on concrete. Blog posts will probably be picture less until Best Buy coughs up a replacement (thanks to my warranty that even covers act of stupidity).

5. My New Years Resolutions this year are to be more patient with Jay, work out more, cook family dinners regularly, finish my CFP even though I could care less about it, and to get our house more organized.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:07:00.000-08:00

Another year is coming to close. The time of year to focus on the family has come again. I really think that everyday should be focused on the family and God. We are so blessed to have my mom and step-father with us for the holiday this year. I hope that everybody has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Party, Party

2009-12-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Mac always loves a good party--especially the party food. This year his class had a birthday party for Jesus. They had cake and sang happy birthday to Jesus. It was so cute. The kids had learned how to sing "Happy Birthday" and "Jingle Bells." They all sounded so good. Here are some pictures from all of the fun.

Santa's Not So Bad Anymore

2009-12-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Mac is starting to warm up to Santa now that he is starting hear about the presents he might bring him. Mac has definitely been a good boy this year, so he will probably get a couple of fun presents. Well Mac got to meet the big guy again this year. It went much better than last year. What a relief. Maybe next year Mac will even smile...

The Way a Two-year Olds Mind Works

2009-12-17T05:02:00.000-08:00

Scene from this morning:

I am dressing Mac for school in corduroys and a red turtleneck. First I take off his his moose PJs.

Mac: Mama where did my mooses go?

Me: Over there

Mac grabs Moose shirt and tries to jam it back on his head.

Me: Mac I am going to put your red turtleneck on you

I put on the turtleneck. Mac looks down and his chest with a very confused look.

Mac: Mama uh...where did the turtle go?

Me: Its a type of shirt. The neck is a turtleneck. There is not actually a turtle on your shirt.

Mac: (crying) Where did the turtle go?

Me: But its a red shirt.

Mac: (sniff, sniff) I liiiiike red.

Crisis averted.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hodgepdoge Middle of the Night Monday

2009-12-14T22:37:00.000-08:00

1. Mac saw Santa last weekend and there was not any screaming. Last year Mac tried to stab Santa with a fork (we should have patted him down first). This year went much better. Picture should be coming this week--once the school forks it over. No pun intended.

2. I went to five (count them), five Christmas parties last week and I still have two more to go to. What in the world is going on...

3. Christmas shopping is almost done. Christmas cards should go out tomorrow. I am walking into the post office to mail them this year. Last year my mom's card got lost, which stunk. I would much rather my bosses card get lost if one had to. Just saying...

4. I am so excited that we are staying home for Christmas this year and family is coming to us! I am so excited that I am going see my high school BF, Kris, right after Christmas!

5. We all have colds...boo!

6. I am so sick of rain. It is officially the wettest year on record for our city. Rain is past being a blessing. Now it is more of a pest. More flash flooding watches for the area. I asked for a canoe for Christmas...to take to work.

Here is a picture of Jay and I in Tampa:

Eliza Rocks!

2009-12-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

Eliza, a graduate for our youth group, is an awesome photographer. I called her to see if she you take some pictures, since it had been over a year from our last professional pictures. Well she agreed and took awesome pictures. Here are a few. Hope you love them as much as I do!

Little Full, Lot of Sap

2009-11-29T18:21:00.000-08:00

Ah, its a wonderful time of the year. I am looking forward to drinking some eggnog out of moose shaped goblets and watching "Christmas Vacation"--my absolute. favorite. holiday. movie! This year I have gone a little nuts in being way over prepared, because we are having a Christmas party at our house in two weeks. I have already finished decorating and my Christmas cards have been waiting at the printer for two weeks. We just have to get our pictures from our photographer friend to finish them up. Hopefully she will send those over this coming week. I will probably finish Christmas shopping this week too. That involves just me, amazon.com, 30 minutes, and an amex card. Hopefully someone else will wrap everything. I have the wrapping skills of a three year old.

This is Mac's third Christmas, but this is the first that he can really get into and enjoy. We took him to pick out our Christmas tree. He was definitely a fan of that activity. We finally decided to get a real tree again after having an artificial tree for three years. Mac also helped us decorate. I put ornaments on the tree. Mac took them off the tree and so on. It took a little longer than usual, but Mac had a blast.

For anyone wondering whether to take their kids to a light show, I urge you to go. Mac's favorite activity so far has been the Fantasy in Lights at Callway Gardens. As soon as Mac saw the first light display, he started singing and clapping! He was mesmerized by the show for 1.5 hours. I highly recommend the show for anyone in the area. Don't ride in the open air Jolly Trolley though. I did that the first year we went. Its not bad, but I enjoy riding in our own car at lot better. It was pretty cold the night we went too.

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying their Christmas preparations.

What I am thankful for

2009-11-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend someone broke into our house at midnight on Saturday. We were in Clemson at the time. Luckily we have a loud and scary alarm. The alarm company called us (no answer--we were asleep), the police (immediately dispatched to our house) and then my mom (who I feel so bad that she was woken up). I woke up in the middle of night just knowing that I needed to check my phone. I had six missed phone calls and five messages. I also noticed that my mom had called Jay's phone as well. I seriously thought that someone had died. I was actually thankful that it was only our house being broken into once I listened to the messages and talked to the police. Then I woke Jay up to tell him what happened. We were amazingly calm. We even laughed. Why you ask? Well there is nothing that you could steal from that would really matter. Everything we cared about was with us. We were out of town with our son and our dog. The only jewelry of real and sentimental value was on my finger. We joked that the burglars probably were probably disappointed in our lack of cash, flat screens, and guns. Our TV is so old and heavy that you would probably get a hernia trying to steal the darn thing. There really was nothing worth stealing in our house. We also joked that the newly cleaned floors that we always slipped on might have caused trouble for our unwelcome guest. They were waxed to a slippery shine just hours before we left town. Anyway when got home Sunday we found out that the burglars had freaked when they heard the alarm, ran through our house, found nothing, and ran back out the way they came. We now have a new fence lock and dead bolt, so good luck to them next time. Our alarm siren actually violates city noise ordinances, because it so loud. It was put in our house before such rules existed. Our alarm company told us to pray that it never breaks. You can hear it from several blocks away. It is deafening and mind numbing when you are in the house.

All of this just made me think about Thanksgiving about all of the things that we have to be thankful for:

1. I am thankful for my family--my husband, my son, my dog (who thinks he is human), my parents, my step-parents, extended family and my in-laws. I could not be more blessed. Not everyone has the chance to have such a wonderful family. I know that I am doubly blessed to have as much family as we do.

2. I am thankful that God blessed me with the gift of motherhood. I was not sure if I could do it, but now I know that I can do anything. (just like my mother always told me)

3. I am thankful to have such wonderful friends who care so much about my family.

4. I am thankful to have had Jay in my life for 12 years and to have been married to him for 5 years.

5. I am thankful that we both have jobs we love and work for such a good Christian family oriented company (and its a bank!).

6. I am thankful for my self confidence. It has helped me do all the things I never thought that I could--from conducting seminars in front of large groups to working in a sales job.

7. I am thankful for the house that really has become our home. We do not care about the belongings in it, but we do care about all of the memories created within. And that you can never take from us.

Finally,

8. I am thankful to have moved to a town like Columbus. In this town we have been so welcomed and loved by its people. We have created our family. We have found a wonderful church family. For all of this I will be eternally grateful.

Oh and on a lighter note, I am thankful for all of the travel experiences that I have had. Its not everyday that an elephant kisses you--thank goodness. :)

The Road to Tampa

2009-11-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo! Clemson is on its way to the ACC Championship. This weekend Clemson beat Virginia to win their division and a place in the ACC Championship game. Mac even got to witness this game! We finally had good weather, so we took Mac to game. Last year he made it through the first half of the game that we took him to. This year Mac made through the whole game! He made friends with all of the people around us. Jay kept on turning around to find Mac being held by someone new. My favorite part was when the Tigers won. I think that Mac's favorite part was when I shared my huge pretzel with him.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

Funny Gosselin Video

2009-11-17T18:18:00.001-08:00

Add this to my wish list for Christmas:

Mac the Moocher

2009-11-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend we hosted the Youth Group for a progressive dinner. Basically you travel to a different house for each course. I prefer to eat my meals all in one place, but hey no one asked me. They just asked if I would serve the appetizer course at our house. So of course I volunteered to have 20 teenagers come over to my house on the only free weekend I had in November (I must be crazy). It ended being a lot of fun though. Mac really enjoyed the kids...and the food! As soon as he spied that bowl of chips on the table, their was no way that Mac was going to leave the kitchen. He also like the sundried tomato crostini. He licked all of the hummus off and then ate the bread. All while saying "mmmmm good."

Mac frantically saying "chip, chip"

Sweet success on Operation Chip Retrieval

Some of the goodies

Riley trying to "Jedi" mind trick me into giving him a chip

I Have a Secret

2009-11-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

And so does Mac. We love Taylor Swift. We sing the song "Love Story" when we are in the car. Mac will say"sing Momma." Well he only want me to sing one song, so we sing "Love Story." He knows most of the first verse now. Once we are past that, Mac just keeps singing "don't go" and "say yes." Which is pretty much the rest of the song and when the song ends...Mac says "again?".

I know you all have dirty secrets, so here is ours. We love American Idol stars. Several friends in Columbus have already heard about the Kelly Clarkson CD purchase that resulted in an empty CD case which resulted in the most embarrassing Target return ever. Which of course resulted in a year long Target boycott--so easy when you have no children.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

Here Piggy Piggy

2009-11-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

After much research, soul searching, discussion, I decided to get Mac vaccinated for the H1N1 virus--more fondly known as swine flu. I was really worried about his immune system. We have had a good run lately, but Mac had been sick pretty much all the time until this past Spring. Going into cold and flu season I just could not risk what would happen if he did get the flu (either one). Idecided that we had the opportunity to get the vaccine and that we should take it.

So lets set the scene, the vaccine was only being given at the health department. The upside was that is was free and the people watching was awesome. The downside was that he could contract any number of horrible illnesses at the health department while waiting for the vaccine. We showed up with snacks, purel, plastic chick-fi-la cow toys and sheer determination. Thank goodness one of my other friends also showed up with books! Mac spent three and half hours waiting with me for this vaccine. He eat his cereal and raisins. He then forced me to hand over the emergency goldfish stash--hey it was an emergency. We are crazy people when we run out of snacks. We read those books twenty times over. He was a rockstar. A Thomas the train toy may or may not have been given to him as a reward after the end this ordeal. The kid deserved an entire train set, but those things are expensive--Thomas will just have to do. We have to go back in a month for the follow up shot. I can hardly wait....

Wordless Wednesday -- What a difference two years can make...

2009-11-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Boo!

2009-11-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

Well our little bumblebee had a great Halloween. Mac kicked off the week by going to the high school youth group party. We help out with the youth group at our church. Mac loves hanging out with the older kids. On Friday night, we went to a Fall Festival given by St. Luke. Mac had a blast jumping in the bouncy house, collecting candy at Trick or Trunk, and riding the choo-choo train. He also loved his costume. As soon as he saw it on Friday, he said "Put Bumblee on." Saturday we went to a friend's house and went trick or treating in their neighborhood. Then all of the kids came back to play in the backyard. It was a great Halloween! I hope that everybody enjoyed their Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday (and a sneak peek)

2009-10-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Going to the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

It was another exciting day in the "D" household. Today we decided to take Mac to the pumpkin patch. There is a nursery in our town that sets up a pumpkin maze and has a hayride for the kids. They also have cute scarecrows and other Fall decor. Mac woke us up a little before 8:00 am singing "Old McDonald had a farm" in his crib. Its a luxury to sleep that late in our household. It was perfect for the grey Fall day that we had today. I think if you asked Mac right now what he wants to be when he grows up the answer would be a farmer. We had a couple more rounds of "e-i-e-i-o" and " a ba-ba here and a ba-ba there" before we were out the door. First we stopped at Dunkin Donuts, because I love the fact that they will give you a free munchkin for your child. *Note to self: no sprinkles next time--they are a little messy.*

The next stop was the Pumpkin Patch! Mac posed as a pilgrim, ran around the pumpkin maze (which really is not much of a maze), and tried to take 50 tiny pumpkins home with him. We were able to convince him to pick just one perfect little pumpkin. After selecting our pumpkins, we got on the hayride. Mac loved it! He kept calling it the "tractor choo-choo." He is now resting up to watch the Tigers play on TV this afternoon.

I hope that everybody else had a great Saturday too!

Wordless Wednesday (a little late)

2009-10-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

Tricycle, Tricycle

2009-10-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Mac loves bicycles, so he was thrilled when he found out that Big Mac had gotten him a tricycle! Even better its decorated in the colors of Mac's favorite team--Clemson. Here he is trying it out.

Mac turns two!

2009-10-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Mac had a wonderful birthday yesterday. He enjoyed playing with all of his friends on the bouncy house and on the gym mats. Its hard to believe how fast time has flown by.

The funniest that he said yesterday was, "Oh my goodness a hammer." He said this while he was opening all of his wonderful gifts. He got lots of new building tools, trucks, puzzles, and choo-choo trains. He could not have been more excited!

The Night Before

2009-10-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow our baby will be a baby no more! Tomorrow Mac turns two! I can hardly believe it has been two years since we brought this little guy into our lives. Today we celebrated at school with his class. We had yummy cupcakes and little frog favors for all of the kids. Mac had a blast. He loved hearing all of the kids trying to sing happy birthday to him. They had a lot of practice in September with about six birthdays. There was one week where he ate four cupcakes. He came home thinking cupcakes were a food group. Compare the pictures to last year's party.

Yippy Skippy

2009-10-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

The dishwasher is fixed!!! Hooray. Jay is now trying to dirty as much silverware possible to revel in having a working dishwasher again. Case in point--he used two spoons for one bowl of ice cream earlier. For some reason I am still drinking out of a plastic cup...oops. I finally trained Jay to not use real dishes for two days and it has back fired on me. Now he uses plastic cups and has reverted back to leaving the toilet seat up. Dang it! Back to the beginning.

In other news, due to rain Mac's b-day celebration was moved to a local gym. We can still have the bouncy house there. So far we are expecting 10 crazy two-year olds to attend. Its going to be a blast!

Nothing Like a Sharp Dressed Man

2009-10-04T17:41:00.001-07:00

Mac is such a big boy now. He had his third real haircut on Saturday. I gave up on doing it myself a while ago. It was pretty ugly the couple times I cut it. He would not stay still for me. He is so good for the ladies at Great Clips though. They give him lollipops--I was only offering hugs. After the Tigers lost another miserable football game, we headed off to the playground at the park. Mac had a blast going down the slide, up the slide and swinging on the swings.

P.S. I am drinking out of a plastic cup right now, because the dang dishwasher is still broken!

Dang It!!!

2009-10-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Our stupid dishwasher broke, so now we are eating off of paper plates and bowls that I have stocked up from previous parties. There is only so much hand washing of dishes that I can stand. Oh, and we are using solo cups to drink out of. Don't judge...I work full time (and I might be a little lazy too).

We were going to take Mac to the pumpkin patch today, but 80 degree weather made it hard to get in the Fall mood. I think we are going to go the weekend after his birthday instead. Any pumpkin patch recommendations?

So what's new?

2009-10-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well the background is new! I decided to spice up the blog look for the Fall season. Mac is going to be two next Saturday! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday that I went and ate Japanese Steakhouse before my ultrasound appointment. Big mistake. That ended up being just hours before my emergency c-section. The nurse rolled her eyes when she asked what my last meal was before the anesthesia. Everything was fine in the end. I called my mom to tell her and she said, "Well we are going to Outback, so just call us on my cell phone when the baby gets here." Just so you know, my mom was over six hours away so there was no way she was going to get there in time. :) She was with us the whole week once we checked out of the hospital. I wonder if she wants to come back next week...a whole week of mom cleaning my house and cooking me delicious meals sounds good to me...

Well now here we are two years later and planning a fun birthday for Mac. We ended up renting a bouncy house and inviting some of his friends. He loved the bouncy house at Hudson's party earlier this summer. Be on the look for pictures next weekend!

This past Sunday we went to a birthday party at My Gym. Mac had a great time--he ran, he climbed, he jumped. This is just such a fun age!

I though this next photo was so cute. I don't know what Mac decided to be so sad about all of sudden. He had a great time at the party though.